Port church hopeful over Mount premises

Plans by Fleetwood’s Emmanuel Church to buy the former Mount Methodist Church building are still proceeding - despite a public announcement which caused confusion.

Although Emmanuel has been negotiating for two years to buy the red brick church on Mount Road, which it currently rents for its church services, the Methodist-owned building is still listed as an “asset of community value” up for sale.

The community value tag means that although it is privately owned, the church building has a special status which protects it from development because of its value to the community.

As part of the lengthy and protracted sale process, Wyre Council was asked to put the notice on its website as a formality, effectively inviting other groups from a special list to bid for the building.

This led to fears that Emmanuel’s plans may be jeopardised but this week Emmanuel, which still owns its original church building on Lofthouse Way, issued a statement.

It said: “The sale of the Mount Church is in the hands of the solicitors.

“Notice has been served as a formality.

“Our purchase of the Mount Church has not fallen through and it is still our aim to complete at the end of the moratorium.”

The building first became listed a community asset two years ago after a request by George Greenall, director of the former Fleetwood Plus Community interest Company, who was then also trying to bid for it and turn it into an arts hub after the Methodists ceased services.

In its latest notification, Wyre Council stated on its website that it had received notification from the management trustees of the Mount Methodist Church of their intention to dispose of the land and buildings, included on Wyre’s List of Assets of Community Value.

It gives details of the time scale for bids and moratoriums and says potential bidders must be specific groups including charities and non profit companies.

For full details, visit the Wyre Council website at: http://www.wyre.gov.uk/news/